Dr. Richard Deming is the immediate past chair of the ACS CAN Board of Directors. He was first elected to the ACS CAN Board in 2011 and was a member of the American Cancer Society’s former Midwest Division Board. He is currently a member of the Society’s Iowa Leadership Council.
Dr. Deming has received several distinguished awards from the Society, including the Lane Adams Quality of Life Award, the Volunteer Award for Excellence in Advocacy from ACS CAN in 2015, and the St. George National Award in 2016. He has also received the Society’s Making a Difference, the Sword of Hope Award for Healthcare Promotion, the Light of Wellness Leadership Award from the Iowa Wellness Council, the Volunteer of the Year Award from the YMCA of Greater Des Moines, the Lane Adams Quality of Life Award from the American Cancer Society, the Iowa Cancer Champion Award from the Iowa Cancer Consortium, and the Outstanding Individual Philanthropist Award by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Dr. Deming has Honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters from Drake University and from Simpson College.
Dr. Deming is the Medical Director of Mercy Cancer Center in Des Moines, Iowa, and Chairman of the Oncology Service Line at Mercy Medical Center. He came to Mercy Cancer Center in 1989 after spending two years on staff at the National Cancer Institute and National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Deming is originally from South Dakota and graduated summa cum laude from South Dakota State University. He obtained his medical degree from Creighton University in 1980 and completed a residency in radiation oncology at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Deming was the Diving Medical Officer for the United States Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Group One.
Dr. Deming is active in many professional oncology organizations. He currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Iowa Cancer Consortium, and is a Principal Investigator for the CHI Institute for Research and Innovation. Dr. Deming is a Fellow of the American College of Radiology. He is Vice Chairman of the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, and Founder and Chairman of Above + Beyond Cancer.